Wheel

Defined in 6 dictionaries — Cyclopedic (1922), Ballentine's (1916), Bouvier (1914), Black's (1910), Kinney (1893), Anderson (1889)

The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary

Walter A. Shumaker and George Foster Longsdorf; ed. James C. Cahill · 1922

The punishment of the wheel was formerly to tie a criminal on a wheel, and then to break his bones until he expired. This barbarous punishment was never used in the United States, and it has been abolished in almost every civilized country.

Ballentine's Law Dictionary

James A. Ballentine · 1916

An instrument of punishment upon which the victim was put to death by tearing his limbs apart.

Bouvier's Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia

John Bouvier; revised by Francis Rawle · 1914

The punishment of the wheel was formerly to put a criminal on a wheel, and then to break his bones until he expired. This punishment was never used in the United States; and it has been abolished in every civilized country.

Black's Law Dictionary

Henry Campbell Black, M.A. · 1910

An engine of torture used in medieval Europe, on which a criminal was bound while his limbs were broken one by one till he died.

A Law Dictionary and Glossary

George C. Kinney · 1893

An instrument of a barbarous capital punishment, said to have been first employed in Germany, in which the criminal is bound, with his limbs extended, and his limbs broken by blows struck by the executioner.

A Dictionary of Law

William C. Anderson · 1889

See Jury; Lottery.